Stedman’s book has been of vital importance as it is “one of the most detailed descriptions ever written of an eighteenth-century slave plantation society” (ODNB). His “intimate dealings with members of all social classes, from the governor and the wealthiest planters to the most oppressed slaves and maroon rebels, gave him unique opportunities to describe the full panorama of colonial life-the mistreatment of slaves by sadistic masters, the courage of the rebels in battle, the daily lives of Indian and African slaves, and exotic flora and fauna” (ibid). These insights into the harsh reality of the slave trade lead the book to be regarded as an important tool for early abolitionist causes. Interestingly, however, it is now known that this first edition “in fact represented a significantly altered version of the manuscript Stedman had submitted to his publisher, Joseph Johnson, in 1790. For unbeknown to the author, Johnson had passed the manuscript to William Thomson, a professional editor and ghost writer” (ibid) who was hired to rewrite the original manuscript entirely. Upon seeing this heavily edited version, Stedman commented that it was “mard intirely” and “full of lies and nonsense” (Stedman’s diary, 24 June, 1975). It is claimed that Stedman exploded in anger and burned two thousand copies. This first edition “distorted Stedman’s views on race, slavery, and social justice, and turned them more towards a pro-slavery position” (ibid).
His view on slavery is, however, a complicated one and has been subject to much scholarly debate. Despite the highly sympathetic sections withheld from the 1796 first edition such as “his admiration for Africans-their institutions, morals, hygiene-including the rebel slaves; his frank depiction of sex between European men and African women; and many of his remarks about the pervasiveness of misconduct and debauchery of European planters” (ibid), Stedman himself was far from an abolitionist. For instance, in 1792 Stedman refused to sign a popular petition against the slave trade. Stedman seemed to concede that Britain’s tropical colonies could not be cultivated and maintained without slave labour, being content in the end to propose modest political and legal reformations to the slave trade. Stedman’s love affair with the Joanna, an enslaved mulatto woman with whom he had a son, further complicates his views towards slavery. Nevertheless, Stedman’s account of his time spent in Surinam “had significant contemporary impact. Upon its publication the Critical Review observed that “we have never opened any work which is so admirably calculated to excite the most heart-felt abhorrence and detestation of that grossest assault on human nature-domestic slavery.”
Stedman’s wonderfully illustrative account of the reality of eighteenth-century slave plantations has been brought to life in this volume by plates illustrated by William Blake, Francesco Bartolozzi, and others based on Stedman’s original drawings and watercolours. Blake, who was responsible for sixteen plates in this edition that “have long been recognised as among the best executed and most generally interesting of all his journeyman work” (Keynes).
Abbey Travel, 719; Cox II, p.285; Sabin, 91075; Critical Review, January 1797, p.53; Keynes, G., Blake Studies: essays on his life and works. 2nd ed. London, 1971) p.98; Stedman, J.G., Journal, diaries and other papers, 1772-1796: https://umedia.lib.umn.edu/item/p16022coll187:1039/p16022coll187:977?child_index=8&facets%5Bcollection_name_s%5D%5B%5D=John%20Gabriel%20Stedman%20Archive%20and%20Book%20Manuscript&query=&sidebar_page=3 retrieved 13 October 2022.
